Culinary Concepts
Somerset Culinary Concepts is a collaboration between Somerset Market Ventures, an affiliate of Somerset Development Company, LLC, whose principals are Nancy Hooff and Jim Campbell, and Ziad Maalouf, an established DC restauranteur.
Ziad’s background includes working with the legendary Jean Louis Palladin at the Watergate Hotel; opening the stunning Lespinasse in the St Regis Hotel; and owning and operating the popular restaurant, Café Olé on Wisconsin Avenue for almost 20 years.
Somerset Development Company, an award-winning development firm, specializes in revitalization of urban communities with a focus on development and preservation of affordable multi-family properties, historic preservation and mixed income residential properties. Somerset has completed multiple projects in Baltimore including Station North Townhomes on North Calvert Street, the historic preservation of The Flats at Professional Arts Building, a major renovation of Linden Park Apartments, and The Jordan Apartments on McMechen Street in Bolton Hill. In DC, Somerset has completed nine major developments including Portner Flats, Channel Square and the historic renovation of Hubbard Place.
As part of its community development strategy, Somerset and Ziad have created Somerset Culinary Concepts with two distinctive restaurant concepts: Café Filí and The Tilted Row. Each one focuses on bringing neighbors and neighborhoods together in an effort to strengthen and revitalize a sense of community.
Café Filí, which is located on the ground floor of the Professional Arts Building in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, owned by Somerset Development Company, LLC is an urban casual concept serving breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. The cuisine is focused on the flavors and lifestyle of the Mediterranean in a setting with open ceilings, vibrant colors, and comfortable booths which invite long leisurely lunches. Open 7 days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the healthy cuisine has something for everyone. A second Café Filí, at 2nd and G streets in Washington, DC, opened in December of 2019, and there are new plans for expansion with a goal of opening three new locations in Baltimore over the next 12 to 16 months (by late 2025).
The Tilted Row has served as a gathering place since its opening for the Bolton Hill, Madison Park and surrounding neighborhoods… a place to meet your neighbors in a warm, inviting atmosphere full of Baltimore spirit while enjoying a highly-acclaimed dining experience. Baltimore Magazine named The Tilted Row in its Best Restaurants in 2024. In August 2024, The Tilted Row is temporarily closing for one month and will reopen in September with a reinvented concept and a new menu leaning into Southern cuisine with a creative twist. The ingredients, dishes, and presentation will be more playful, incorporating deconstructed dishes that lets diners be more interactive and combine elements themselves. In addition to the new menu, the restaurant space is being revamped to feature a Southern flair in décor but combined with a Baltimore feel to retain that warm, welcoming, local neighborhood ambiance diners have come to love.
In The Press